Survey would help guide services
CITY HALL A New York-based agency that has dramatically reduced the homeless population in midtown Manhattan is coming to Santa Monica later this month to assist city staff in the creation of a homeless directory that will identify those who are most vulnerable and assign them a ranking so that services can be better directed.
By using a “vulnerability index,” Common Ground was able to reduce the number of chronically homeless people in a 20-block area of Manhattan from 55 people in February 2005 to just two people in October of last year, said Becky Kanis, a representative from the non-profit.
Common Ground is currently working with six cities across the country, including Los Angeles, in creating vulnerability indexes. Santa Monica will be the seventh.
“This will help us refine and bring even more focus to Brandon Wise CHRONIC NEED: A homeless man sleeps on the sidewalk next to Santa Monica Place on Wednesday. Advocates estimate that more than 73,000 homeless people live in Los Angeles County, with roughly 2,000 living on the streets of Santa Monica. our work,” said Julie Rusk, human services director for City Hall. “This will really be a tool for us as we move into the next phase of our chronic homeless work.”
The cost of the project is $12,000, with some of that money being used to purchase food cards for the homeless who participate, Rusk said.
Roughly four years ago, City Hall began the Chronic Homeless Program, which identifies those who have been living on the streets the longest and focuses resources so that these individuals can find a permanent home and access services.
In that program, representatives from City Hall — including Human Services, Housing, Police and Fire departments — meet monthly with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and local nonprofit homeless service providers to fine tune the program and monitor outcomes.
Since its inception, 144 people have been enrolled in the program, with 78, or 54 percent, being housed in permanent housing or temporary/transitional housing, according to figures released by City Hall in October of last year. The average age of those in the program is 55 years old, with the oldest being 89. One average, individuals were homeless for 18 years.
The key to Common Ground’s success has been their focus on those people who are fixtures or anchors in the community and oftentimes attract others who are seeking advice or guidance on how to survive on the streets.
In early December, Common Ground led a team of county, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and other homeless professionals to survey and identify every homeless person living on the streets of Skid Row as part of the county’s $5.6 million pilot program called Project 50, which is designed to provide immediate housing and services for those who are in need.
Advocates estimate that more than 73,000 homeless people live in Los Angeles County, with roughly 2,000 in Santa Monica. A report by the Urban Institute found that 24 percent of the homeless population suffers from both substance abuse and mental illness.
Program supporters say the effort could save taxpayers millions of dollars currently spent on homeless people who turn up at shelters, jails or emergency rooms.
In Santa Monica, volunteers from local service providers, the Veterans Administration and the county will work with city staff and representatives with Common Ground on a survey of the city’s neighborhoods, identifying how many people are without shelter. Those who are counted will be asked important questions about their health, finances, family ties and other personal information. Volunteers will ask for permission to photograph those surveyed.
Those who are the most vulnerable will receive a high ranking, putting them at the top of the list for services, Rusk said.
The important thing will be building relationships with the homeless and then placing them in housing first, giving them a safe place to live before they can address other issues such as mental illness or drug and alcohol addiction.
“We hope we can move some of them into housing,” Rusk said. “We currently have housing vouchers … but we continue to struggle with finding housing. We don’t have the housing to meet the need.”
The count will take place in the early morning hours of Jan. 25. The survey will be conducted the following week, with a presentation of the findings scheduled for Jan. 31, Rusk said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 17, 2008. Read the original PDF.